In addition to the main MIT website, MIT departments, labs, centers, and individuals publish many other websites and pages outside the scope of this privacy statement, which may post and adhere to their own privacy statements. Visitors are encouraged to review posted privacy statements for each MIT website they visit.

Your personal information

You can visit the main MIT website without telling us who you are and without revealing any personal information about yourself.

Voluntarily provided information

In using specific features, such as web forms, on the main MIT website, you may be asked to provide additional information, such as your name or email address, that may be needed to contact you or to subscribe you to updates. In such cases, it is our intent that your provided information will be used only to fulfill the request(s) you make of us, and to allow us to contact you if there are any problems with your request. We will not share, exchange, or sell your email address and other provided personal information to third parties.

Automatically collected information for visitor and traffic analytics

Cookies

A cookie is a short identifier, stored on your computer, that may contain site-specific settings or identify you to a site when you make a return visit. The main MIT website does not use cookies, with the exception of those used by Google Analytics, described below. All features of the main MIT website are designed to work without cookies. If you turn off cookies in your browser, you will still be able to fully experience the main MIT website.

Google Analytics

The main MIT website uses Google Analytics to gather anonymous statistics. The information gathered is used to improve web services for visitors. Google Analytics uses a browser cookie for statistical analysis related to your browsing behavior on these websites. If you choose, you can opt out by turning off cookies in the preferences settings in your browser, or download and install Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. For more information, visit Google Analytics Solutions.

Basis for processing

We process your personal information collected on the main MIT website to facilitate our online interactions with you. We only collect and process your personal information in furtherance of MIT’s legitimate interests and/or to fulfill any contractual obligations with you.

If you have concerns about this privacy statement, any of these purposes, or how we communicate with you, please contact us at dataprotection@mit.edu. We will always respect a request by you to stop processing your personal information (subject to our legal obligations).

How your information is stored and secured

MIT uses risk-assessed administrative, technical, and physical security measures to protect your personal information. There are reasonable security measures in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure.

How long we keep your personal information

We consider our relationship with the MIT community to be lifelong. This means that we will maintain a record for you until such time as you tell us that you no longer wish us to keep in touch. After such time, we will retain a core set of information for MIT’s legitimate purposes, such as archival, scientific, and historical research and for the defense of potential legal claims.

Rights for individuals in the European Economic Area

You have the right in certain circumstances to (1) access your personal information; (2) correct or erase information; (3) restrict processing; and (4) object to communications, direct marketing, or profiling. To the extent applicable, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation provides further information about your rights. You also have the right to lodge complaints with your national or regional data protection authority.

If you are inclined to exercise these rights, we request an opportunity to discuss with you any concerns you may have. To protect the personal information we hold, we may also request further information to verify your identify when exercising these rights. Upon a request to erase information, we will maintain a core set of personal data to ensure we do not contact you inadvertently in the future, as well as any information necessary for MIT archival purposes. We may also need to retain some financial information for legal purposes, including US IRS compliance. In the event of an actual or threatened legal claim, we may retain your information for purposes of establishing, defending against, or exercising our rights with respect to such claim.

By providing information directly to MIT, you consent to the transfer of your personal information outside of the European Economic Area to the United States. You understand that the current laws and regulations of the United States may not provide the same level of protection as the data and privacy laws and regulations of the EEA.

Additional information

The main MIT website may contain links to third-party sites located outside of MIT. MIT is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of these websites. We encourage you to review privacy statements and policies published by these third-party sites.

We may change this Privacy Statement from time to time. If we make any significant changes in the way we treat your personal information we will make this clear on our website or by contacting you directly.